ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Search and recovery efforts resumed Thursday for a child who has not been seen since a rockslide killed a classmate and left two others injured at a St. Paul park along the Mississippi River.
Ground saturated by persistent rain gave way Wednesday afternoon as a group of fourth-graders from a St. Louis Park elementary school walked along a path near the edge of a bluff in Lilydale Regional Park.
Police and firefighters dug frantically with shovels and their hands to get to the children; one was buried to the waist and another was buried completely, Fire Marshal Steve Zaccard said.
Three children were taken to Regions Hospital, where one was pronounced dead. One child with minor injuries was treated and released, and the other child was in serious condition late Wednesday, Zaccard said. Regions spokeswoman Annelise Searle said early Thursday that the hospital can't release any information about the injured child.
Crews searching for a fourth child believed buried in the mudslide suspended operations late Wednesday due to safety concerns. The search resumed Thursday morning, according to WCCO-AM.
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The students from Peter Hobart Elementary School had been on a fossil-hunting field trip when the landslide occurred about 1:15 p.m.
"Obviously we have a very tragic situation here today," Mayor Chris Coleman said at a news conference hours after the gravel slide.
Tammy Olson, who lives two blocks away, said she had never considered the park dangerous.
"I've been here six years, and my husband has been here 23. He said there's never been an issue with accidents down there," Olson said.
